What is Digg?702 Comments
- inactive, on 04/29/2008, -19/+216Be fat all you want. Just don't expect everyone else to bend over backwards to accomodate your lazy, undisciplined lifestyle.
That means:
1) Pay for TWO (2) seats on the airplane if your girth requires it. Don't whine or complain. Don't cry discrimination. It's YOUR attitude that's the problem...and your mass.
2) If I need to hire someone to do a job and, in my opinion, they should look a certain way, then don't expect to be hired. It's MY business. Don't like it? Start your own business which hires ONLY fat people.
3) Don't expect insurance to pay for your unhealthy lifestyle. If your undisciplined life means more health problems for you, expect to pay higher premiums.
4) Don't expect government programs to keep paying for the medical issues arising from your unhealthy lifestyle. It was YOUR choice to keep eating and not exercising. Why should my taxes keep rising to indirectly support your increased mass?
5) Finally, some people will be mean and degrading. Some will not. Life is full of nice people and mean people. Do something constructive about it.
The best revenge for being picked on in high school for being overweight is to return at the 20-year reunion 210 lbs., 5% body fat, strong, fast, with a beautiful woman in your arms, nice car, well-dressed...and smile on your face as you look at those bullies and know that you could drop them like a bad habit at any moment. - inactive, on 04/29/2008, -15/+204Theres no legal right to give you medicare if you continue to waste your health. We cut you off if you start shooting drugs that ruin your body, why not cheeseburgers?
- brjohnson789, on 04/29/2008, -13/+187This argument about fat rights is a great example of one of humanity's greatest weaknesses. Being fat clearly is up to the person who is fat. It is their choice, unlike real disabilities. Yes, I am aware there are 'glandular' conditions that may make a person more predisposed to eating more or retaining weight more easily, but there are still alternatives, such as things called 'excercise' and 'eating less'. I don't consider drug addiction a disability, even though many drug addicts have a genetic disposition towards drug addiction. Some people are predisposed to violence, and if they commit a violent crime we still punish them, because it hurts others (I'll tie this in to fat people soon).
Fat people are in 100% control of their bodies, and they chose to treat it in a certain way; a way that indicates they clearly have no concern about their future health. And this is humanity's weakness: no long term planning. I am sorry but when I see others ruin their long term health I cannot pretend it is perfectly ok. I cannot pretend that these people don't have underlying mental issues that lead to their self destruction, so if I have to chose between well qualified fat person and a pretty well qualified healthy person, I am chosing the healthy person because they have their priorities straight. Here's where the fat people's choices literally do affect everyone: considering the continuing socialization of health care, the healthy people are going to get to help pay for the health care of the fat people when they get older and their health fails. - TEHxINTERWEBS, on 04/29/2008, -6/+147I believe skinny people are being discriminated against clothing wise. I bought a pair of jeans the other day and my size 29 costs the same as a size 36, and my small t-shirt costs the same as a xl. If the pants and shirts use less material it should cost less.
- inactive, on 04/29/2008, -7/+64i'd like to see you fat bastards try...
- TWXM, on 04/29/2008, -6/+62While they're at it, could they also pass a law to stop discrimination based on laziness or incompetence?
- dannyapplesauce, on 04/29/2008, -3/+59Sounds like someone needs a hug. I don't agree that everyone grows up loathing themselves.
- johndi, on 04/29/2008, -2/+52Many more people die from obesity related causes than recreational drugs and alcohol combined. They aren't even in the same class. More people die from traffic accidents than drugs. More people die from prescription medicine than recreational drugs. What seems to be isn't. Drugs cause a whole lot of social problems, but they aren't as deadly as cheap food of poor quality.
- allowners, on 04/29/2008, -2/+44The reason obesity is so common, in addition to lack of exercise (watching sport instead of participating in sport), is because of what has been labeled SAD (Standard American Diet) in the US. It consists of lots of heavily processed and "refined" ingredients. Although I don't think people should be made to feel bad for being obese, it is definitely not healthy. A strident example is the case where Native Americans along the Mexican border switched their diet from traditional local grown "whole" foods to the SAD diet. Where previously they were generally thin and healthy, almost all of them are now obese and they have the highest rate of diabetes in the US.
- footodors, on 04/29/2008, -1/+40for every new law passed, they should have to eliminate 2 existing laws!
- brjohnson789, on 04/29/2008, -7/+45What if the fat doctor, instead of making it to the emergency room ,had a heart attack while chugging down the hallway? And what sort of weight (no pun intended) are you putting on medical advice from someone that does not even take care of themselves decently? Its one thing to be a bit of a belly due to no chance to really hit the gym, but I'm not listening to medical advice from a guy who weighs twice as much as me.
- DrDragun, on 04/29/2008, -4/+39In an idealized world, yes, but there is a definite and quantifiable economic cost to being overweight. For most people it is a choice too, unlike race or sex. Yes you can talk about the fringe 5% who have a genetic gland problem, but for most people it is a choice. When people make bad or undisciplined choices, I feel no obligation to bail them out (see also: housing market). On the other hand, I am very sympathetic to people who are discriminated against when it isn't their choice (gender, sex, sexual orientation).
Is it society's responsibility to ACCOMODATE a lack of self-discipline in its individuals and COMPENSATE them for it? Should all seats be made 36" wide and all aircraft forced to carry 30% more fuel to lift a 30% heavier payload to cruising altitude? To do otherwise would be to "discriminate." Should we all pay taxes to buy insulin shots for $150/mo for the guy who eats off the dollar menu because he doesn't want to pay for Subway (the difference in cost of which would be less than $150/mo)? To do otherwise would be to "discriminate." - joeanon, on 04/29/2008, -14/+47That's not the problem at all.
The problem is that once you get so obese you have special needs, like everything from your food intake to the size seat you need on an airplane, bus or movie theater.
Obesity is vastly more like drug use than it is like a physical handicap. It's choice to live an unhealthy lifestyle for almost all obese people. Very few have real health conditions that make them 300+ pounds.
So, are tax payers and consumers supposed to MANDATE 'fat friendly' infrastructure, no doubt at tax payers expensive. I don't think we should anymore than we should put smoking rooms in public places for cigarette smokers nor should we make alcoholism legal in public simply to be 'alcohol accepting'.
Obese people need to get thinner or accept the inconveniences of being obese.
Also note how much trouble the chronically obese become, many times eventually needing help from public services like police or firefighters just to MOVE and wind up with chronic health problems, no job and no chance of employment while inversely their medical needs skyrocket to 3-5 times that of a healthy person.
Business that want to cater (haha) to obese people can do so, but you can't realistically make a law saying fire departments have to hire so many fat people when they are clearly physically handicapped and will be putting themselves, their fellow public servants and the people who they need to save at higher risk.
Unless the person is willing to get into some problem to USE physical labor as a means to lose weight under some contractual terms. People are who morbidly obese, for instance, should not get special treatment beyond perhaps qualifying for a physical handicap.
Morbidly obese people are physically handicapped.... they are not an ethnicity that is being conspired against. Unless you quality as morbidly obese and show an inability to walk and such you SHOULD NOT get special treatment.
Just as cancer victims, and drug addict and people who were teased a lot in school don't get a special status for their problems in life.
Don't spend too much time feeling sorry for fat American's inability to control their eating habits. Negative stimulus from the public is ONE of the few reasons people have to control their weight. Most obese people could lose enough weight to improve their self image in only a few months, they chose instead to eat and eat and eat for decades until real health problems arise and their they stand at the crossroads of their life. Control your eating... or die young.
It's sad, but FRIENDS AND FAMILY should be trying to intervene and perhaps we need more lower cost services to help people get into a healthier eating style and oversize more.
For the most part that SHOULD be your DR's job, but in a privatized medical system like ours, disease is profitable. DR's have no real inventive to convince their patients to eat health or stop smoking, that would just mean less DR visits and less $$$.
With a national health care system we could offer extra money as incentives for DR's that get their patients to live healthier lifestyles instead of making profit PER INCIDENT.
That's yet another reason why national health care is SO MUCH CHEAPER than private health care.
If fat people need anything... it's to lose weight and better manage their health problems. National health care is the solution. If it takes a stomach staple to SHOCK you into controlling your eating habits... maybe that's what you need.- Or maybe you just need long term positive support from friends, family and DEFINITELY your DR.
All obese people should be pushing for National Health Care.
And I don't meant what Obama or Hilary is offering, but REAL national health care like Canada has.
Yea they tell you it will cost more, BUT they also keep telling your Obama is a muslim. When will you people get smart and realize these are lies to keep the rich richer. The only benefit of private health care is that the drug companies and top medical professionals that work with them can make entirely out of proportion profit, while letting the poor, the chronically sick and the obese live shorter and more painful lives.
Canada has national health care AND national education and their taxes are 5% LESS.
5% LESS TAXES people... cmon. Before Reagan we did used to spend like it war WARTIME... ALL the time. The military budget is supposed to GO BACK DOWN when we aren't at war so we can afford to GROW THE NATION instead of using our endless surplus of aged and useless military gear as artificial reeves... to replace the ones WE NUKED and poisoned and such. OH and to stop rich people's private beaches from eroding.
I want to be the world wealthiest nation too. BUT you have keep a reasonable level of control on the wealth gap. You can't allow the rich to just keep getting richer endlessly while leveraging their wealth to effectively make the poor poorer.
Exxon Mobile's profit aren't going down because they are cannibalizing the working classes wealth by keeping prices higher and keep salary and benefits low. At the years have passed corporate America has increase it's profit margins, but handed proportionally much fewer raises.
If you LET them do that... they certainly will. Now every individual could demand a raise, but chances are we are more powerful as a democracy than as individuals.
Instead, we should demand national health and education, this freeing OUR pockets of the responsibility and taking the profit model OFF things that are more important than profit. Like health and education.
As a nation, it should be clear by now, that we need better education and health care MORE than we need the rich to get richer.
Plus the wealth are SO STUPID they didn't even remotely plan for the energy crisis (beside idiotic things like trying to horde oil and food). Yea... lets see how long those stores last your mansion. Not long enough that's for sure. The wealth are SO STUPID they stood by with their hands in the pie while the dollar dropped to HALF it's value.
That;s the real reason oil costs a lot... the dollar is worth HALF as much. So....had the dollar not fallen gas would only cost around 60 bucks a barrel or $1.75 a gallon.
It's no doubt going up, but 2 bucks a gallon or cheaper just isn't that bad, especially compared to twice that, which is what we are paying now.
Thanks to Reagan's tax cuts for the wealth, thanks to the DOW economy, thanks to trickle down economics, thanks to chaotic privatization of markets that effectively just created more middlemen and more costs, thanks to the GOP congress accept NO PRICE NEGOTIATION for medicare (which is the single largest medical fund in the world so should negotiate most aggressively), thanks to wars for oil and basically being a global embarrassment for the last 8 years.
That;s pretty much all thanks to the GOP. From Clinton's impeachment cirrus to NOW it's been downhill for the US.
How is it 8 years ago impeaching a President for a BJ was a possibility and now... we make no effort to impeach Bush for what is clearly much higher degrees of crime. Crimes that have ruined our global imagine, crimes that a clearly against the constitution and humanity in general.
We give him a free ride... and the GOP is still trying to blame Clinton for ALL this.
It's more than embarrassing, it's ruining the imagine of the land of freedom and opportunity.
We are torturers cataloging great lists of our potential enemies, completely destroying public privacy and using police to suppress the people's Constitutional right to assemble.
At every level this is the MOST horrible combination of events in US history. The level of conspiracy runs far beyond McCarthyism and it's even worse than WW2 prison camps for Japanese Americans. That was at least a TRUE time of war.
There is threat to us here. TEN times more people die of the flu every year than terrorism. They used OUR OWN JETS against us. SECURE the airlines and the problem is solved... game over.
Terrorist and jihadist have been attempting to hit the WTC for DECADES. That was ALWAYS one of their top targets. So, eventually they got it, but only using unsecured US infrastructure in the form of flying rocket fuel missiles.
Since the 80s American's have become the BIGGEST PUSSIES in the world. From political correctness to 'fat acceptance' This nation is BECOMING A JOKE. - cocaclay, on 04/29/2008, -1/+346) Just because you're fat doesn't mean you can ride a wheelchair to the front of the line at Theme Parks
- chopsky, on 04/29/2008, -1/+34"I think it would help mostly because it would send a message that fat people are equal citizens."
As soon as you need to pass a law differentiating between fat and thin people, you automatically deem them to be unequal.
It's like passing a law in favor of women. It automatically gives society the impression that women are unequal as the law is required on their behalf. If you really want to give the message that people are equal, then don't use the law to differentiate! Just have law that protects individuals. - 4rp4n3t, on 04/29/2008, -2/+34I have four words to say:
Eat less. Exercise more. - chanop, on 04/29/2008, -1/+32And it's ***** hard to find sizes less than 32!!
- TEHxINTERWEBS, on 04/29/2008, -3/+32GET IN MY BELLY!!!
- Mecdude, on 04/29/2008, -5/+33So what, is an equally qualified fat guy going to get a job over me now?
Guess I'm super-sizing my next meal... - homedaddy, on 04/29/2008, -6/+34next up, bias protection for the ugly and/or obnoxious. Then maybe I'll be able to sue and retire early. Your honor, I was definitely the most qualified but I was doomed from the start by my ugly obnoxious parents.
- cranium, on 04/29/2008, -9/+36That's why the wrong kind of socialized medicine sucks. It's a first-class ticket for the government to start micromanaging your life.
- Mier, on 04/29/2008, -1/+28I'm chubby and I don't want to see anymore "privileged groups" created. My problem is my problem and not yours, I say no to socialized medicine for the same reasons.
If you can't see beyond the flesh then that's your blindness. - s0nicfreak, on 04/29/2008, -1/+28"can't see past the fatness"
... must... not... make... joke... - nosecohn, on 04/29/2008, -1/+26WTF? We're an obese nation because we're all conditioned from birth to believe we're bad?! That's ridiculous. I wasn't conditioned that way, nor were a lot of people I know, and some of them are obese. Sounds like you're projecting.
You know why we're obese? We eat too much! And we eat the wrong things.
For millennia, humans lived agrarian lifestyles. They worked the fields and ate what they grew. That usually included one staple whole grain (rice or wheat), a large number of leafy greens, fruits, berries and nuts. Much of it was eaten raw. Meat was used as a flavoring ingredient in small quantities because raising it was too resource-intensive for all but the very rich. And of course, everything was organic because there was no such thing as non-organic. This is how we evolved. It's how are bodies run best. The human engine knows how to process that mix of fuel.
Compare that to how we live and eat today. We hardly exercise. Whatever grains we eat are stripped of their essential nutrients (i.e. white flour, white rice). The primary part of our meals comes from animal protein. Fruits and vegetables make up the smallest portion of our diet. And everything is heavily processed and/or treated with chemicals that don't exist in nature.
Much of this is a product of wealth and industrialization. There are parts of the world where they still live the agrarian lifestyle of our ancestors. These are the undeveloped, rural areas without access to the modern conveniences. The way they eat has come to be known as the "Poverty Diet", and it is marked by the lowest incidence of disease in all human societies on the planet.
So, if you're over 30 and you eat fast food more than once a month, you're harming yourself. If you're not out walking at least a mile a day, you're sedentary compared to the blood line you evolved from. If the food you buy in the store has ingredients you can't pronounce, think about whether your ancestors ate that stuff, and then imagine why there's a huge increase in cancer rates over the last half a century.
We're killing ourselves, all while we've all been conditioned to believe that our lifestyles are "normal." Sure, "everybody eats at McDonalds," but that's why so many of us are fat and sick. A person who simply eats what the average human diet has consisted of for eons is regarded today as some kind of "health nut," whereas the vast majority of Americans eat like they're from some other planet. - insomniac8400, on 04/29/2008, -5/+29People are allowed to discriminate against other people's choices. So race and age are not a choice and are protected from discrimination. But religion and weight are a choice and therefore can be discriminated against, just like smokers.
- dannyapplesauce, on 04/29/2008, -2/+25If obesity is added to the list that is legally protected against discrimination, than what about height? What makes discrimination against fat people worse than discrimination against short people? Do you honestly feel that fat people have a body that they want? Or do you think that maybe they have just become accustomed to their lifestyle and won't make changes. The hardest thing for humans, in my opinion, is to make and adjust to changes, especially the dramatic changes needed to reverse the effects that caused obesity. I'm not hating on fat people, nor am i blanketing all fat people as "not happy with their bodies." I'm sure some are happy with the way the look, but assuming that just because someone looks a certain way means they are happy with themselves physically, is idealistic at best.
bleh - foxfire1311, on 04/29/2008, -2/+24what an economic incentive that would be....charging more for the plus sizes....
Imagine how fast the pounds would drop if fat people had to pay more for their clothes than fit people.... - veriix, on 04/29/2008, -5/+26I'd rather be friends with an fat person then an *****, they can diet or get surgery, what are you gonna do?
- exipolar, on 04/29/2008, -8/+29why do we have legislate tolerance for unhealthy people, in any spectrum
- wachter1, on 04/29/2008, -5/+26Lots of Americans believe that they are genetically predispositioned to be fat, but guess what? It just ain't true. The American gene pool reflects the genes of the whole world. Therefore you would expect America to be somewhere in the middle of the pack. How can America be at the very top -- and by a wide margin? It's not the genes. It's the large portions (portions at restaurants are enough to feed a whole family), all the cars (how far do you have to walk on a typical day), and all of the food additives (high fructose corn syrup, hormones, etc.).
- twoboxen, on 04/29/2008, -5/+26With all the fat people reading digg, i'm going to keep coming back to see the bickering...
that being said, people choose to be fat. If you gain 20 pounds, you should probably realize that you need to get your fat ass to a gym and eat some carrots. OR you can be a lazy person, eat what's convenient, and watch American Idol.
Get your fatness off my armrest. - joel8x, on 04/29/2008, -1/+22You know, it seems that classification of any kind is becoming illegal. It amazes me when you hear police descriptions these days that leave out the race of the criminal. Soon they will be forced to leave out the size, sex, and hair color - amounting to no description at all.
- chopsky, on 04/29/2008, -3/+23Another slap in the face of free speech. You choose to be fat, then you choose to face criticism from whatever moron thinks your body is his problem. He'll come off looking like a bigger moron than you will. End of the day, there's nothing good about being fat. It's a very unhealthy way to live and people should be allowed to freely criticize it. Maybe we should set the law up to protect smokers from discrimination too.
Just like setting up the law to protect from racial prejudice doesn't stop racism, doing the same for fat people won't help them. You can't force people to think differently through (police) scare tactics. - Ghstfce, on 04/29/2008, -4/+24You know, there is no way that this should even be considered. You cannot choose your sex, you cannot choose the color of your skin or even your country of origin. These should remain protected because you have no control over them. Laze and poor health habits as in not exercising and having a frequent flyer card at McDonalds are examples of things you CAN control. Get on a treadmill, put down the fork. Decide against fast food. Most people that say "I can't help it, I have a thyroid problem" are usually eating junk and have never even tried to exercise. You know what that says? "I'm not at fault. I have an excuse." You will be looked at differently for the very good points mentioned above. You're obese, you don't take care of yourself. That give off the feeling of laziness. What employer will want to hire someone they feel is lazy? Companies pay A LOT to cover their employees. Imagine what a potential employer is thinking is you've taken 5 steps into their office and you are winded. They have to think about lost time and premium hikes. We need to stop catering to people that simply don't want to take control. How come they have much higher rates of life insurance for smokers but not the obese? Both are slowly killing themselves and present a risk. Who will most likely spend the most time at the doctors? People are obese because we give them no incentive to do anything about it. We pamper people and say it's okay you're a slob, we understand. Then those same obese people have something to say to the people like myself who go to the gym 3-4 times a week and take pride in being healthy. It makes no sense. You'd die first in a horror film if you had to outrun something, it takes you on average 40% more time to do the same thing I can do, not to mention I can just look down and see my penis. I don't have to cleverly rig up a set of mirrors.
- displaced1, on 04/29/2008, -4/+24Thank you for posting everything I wanted to write plus more.
- EarlOfLade, on 04/29/2008, -9/+29Obese people is a burden on society.
They are more at risk for any form of illness, they cost society (that is you and me) more money because of their obesity. They live shorter, they use an unproportionally larger part of any health care system
Obese people are less productive and cost a company more money.
Not to mention, they take up two seats on an airplane, but only pay for one. Most of them stink because of their bad hygiene, difficult to clean in between all the rolls of fat. They look disgusting. - meruru, on 04/29/2008, -0/+20If they throw being a jackass into the mix I'll be living the high life
- Sle3per, on 04/29/2008, -2/+21I can't believe I just dug up a jimmyspaza comment. wtf.
- bovilexia, on 04/29/2008, -0/+19yeah i am pretty sure obesity is now second to tobacco as the leading cause of preventable death. drugs are around 10.
- OldJesser, on 04/29/2008, -10/+29Here's a memo from the skinny people...
Our metabolisms can handle it and most of us get more exercise. Most of us also don't eat it all the time. Stop making excuses, fatty.
Thanks
-The skinny people - ilves7, on 04/29/2008, -6/+24There is no genetic condition that will make you fat no matter what. Even those people, with a proper diet and some excercise, WILL lose weight. They might have to try a little harder, but that doesn't get them off the hook. Should people who are more prone to addiction be protected if they're drug addicts?
- OldJesser, on 04/29/2008, -1/+19I think that will work about as well as people not driving as much due to the high gas prices...
- babyimreal, on 04/29/2008, -5/+23I'm really surprised all the positive comments that this is getting.
Its evolutionary for us to favor thin people, because of sexual selection. not being obese means you atleast put some sort of care into your body.
But if you want to be fat be fat, just don't complain if you get denied any sort of insurance or medical care because obesity is driving up the cost for everyone else. And that doesn't mean you second class citizens. - slayersotaku, on 04/29/2008, -0/+17Remember fat is normal now. The skinny people are becoming a minority and we need to fight back for our rights. If I hear one more time "you need to eat more" i'm going to push someone down the stairs.
Skinny is great, except when fat people don't make room for you down the hallways at work or grocery shopping. Just wait till they impliment fat people toilets, we'll need to get a special ring to sit on. - mrmod, on 04/29/2008, -1/+18Yes!! I can't find a shirt that isn't a tent without shopping in the kids section. 6'0 / 170 is not tiny yet i feel like being in shape is not proper; you have to be fat or on roids.
- s0nicfreak, on 04/29/2008, -4/+21A non-obese person of similar intelligence (and personally I'd consider it a sign of lesser intelligence if someone is severely obese) is going to be better qualified for a job; they're going to get it done faster if it requires moving around, people are going to be more comfortable interacting with them if it requires face-to-face customer service, they're going to take less days off due to health reasons (most of them), etc. etc.
Being obese says a lot about you, the same way someone who wears a suit to an interview will probably be hired over someone who wears a muscle shirt and baggy pants. - enzoten, on 04/29/2008, -1/+17Um, you can. Its called first class.
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